By Stephen Burns - Motorsport Editor

A historic weekend for Formula One saw an unexpected winner as the inaugural Grand Prix of Singapore, the first to be held at night, was won by the Renault of former world champion Fernando Alonso. Second on the podium and scoring the best result of the season for Williams was Nico Rosberg, with championship leader Lewis Hamilton crossing the line in third place.

Having been beaten to pole position by his main championship rival, Hamilton was unable to match the pace of Massa’s Ferrari in the early stages of the race but the lead pair were  pulling away from the Brazilian drivers team mate in third. Alonso, who had started down in 15th position following a fuel supply problem in qualifying opted to run a very short first stint and was the first to stop on lap 13 just before his team mate Nelson Piquet spun his car into the wall on the exit of turn 17 forcing the safety car to be deployed. Rosberg and Kubica were forced to pit on lap 16, while the pit lane was closed and were immediately investigated by the stewards. The pit lane opened at the end of the 17th lap and immediately most of the field stopped for fuel and tyres.

It was at this point Ferrari’s race began to fall apart, while in his pit Massa received the green light from his team and left his box immediately in front of the Force India of Adrian Sutil but also with the fuel rig still attached to the Ferrari. Massa stopped at the end of the pit lane but had to wait till the team had attended to his team mate before anyone was able to remove the fuel rig and enable Massa to continue. He rejoined the race in last place. To add to the Brazilian’s afternoon of woe he was also given a drive through penalty for an unsafe release from his pit. The safety car returned to the pits at the end of lap 18, by which time the

Williams of Rosberg was in first place but under investigation.
From the restart Rosberg attacked the new circuit and was consistently the quickest car on the track. He knew his best chance of a good points finish was to try to build up a sizeable lead before having to serve his ten second stop/go penalty. Aiding his cause was the Toyota of Jarno Trulli, heavy with fuel due to his one stop strategy. By the time Rosberg pitted he was leading by over twenty seconds and emerged in third place. Hamilton was in ninth place at the restart and spent the second stint trapped behind the Red Bull of David Coulthard, only managing to pass the Scot just before the second round of pit stops.

By this time, Alonso had taken the lead of the race courtesy of those ahead of him having to serve penalties. Massa was struggling with regaining his rhythm and stayed at the lower end of the order, while his team mate Raikkonen made steady progress having been as low as 17th after the first round of pit stops. Having emerged from his second stop in fifth position the Finn set about pursuing Hamilton and was closing on the McLaren till a late safety car following Sutil’s collision with the barrier.

At the restart  Raikkonen continued to chase Hamilton until lap 58 when a mistake at the turn 10 chicane ended the second Ferrari’s race. Hamilton by now had settled for third place, preferring championship points over the uncertainty of challenging for second.


Singapore Grand Prix Result

1    F. Alonso        Renault
2    N. Rosberg        Williams
3    L. Hamilton        McLaren
4    T. Glock            Toyota
5    S. Vettel        Torro Rosso

World Championship Driver’s Standings
1    L. Hamilton        84 points
2    F. Massa        77
3    R. Kubica        64
4    K. Raikkonen        57
5    N. Heidfeld        56
World Championship Constructor’s Standings
1    McLaren        135 points
2    Ferrari            134
3    BMW Sauber        120
4    Renault             51
5    Toyota             46